Button-setting machine



(No Model.) Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. E. H. TAYLOR.

v BUTTUN SETTING MACHINE.

No. 429,394. Patentedaune s, 1890,

MTA/55555 629M- MTA/55555- (No Model.)

E. H. TAYLOR.

j 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

B UTTON vSE'FII-NGr MACHINE.

Patented June 3, 1890.

sil u 'm ru1 UNITED STATES l ATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE H. TAYLOR, OF LYNN, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN SHOE TIP COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BUTTON-SETTING lVlAC-HIN E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,394, dated June 3, 1890.

I Application iiled O ctober 28, 1889. Serial 110.328,492. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE H. TAYLOR, of

Lynn, county of Essex7 State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button-Setting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention is an improvement on the machines shown and described in Letters Patent No. 344,220, dated June 22, 1886, granted to me. Machines constructed as shown and described in said -Letters Patent have certain objectionable features. The cylinder or magazine mounted on top of the machine and provided with parallel vertical raceways capable of receiving and holding a large number of buttons and attached fasteners was not closed at the lower end-that is,'when the cylinder Was off, the machine being filled with buttons and fasteners, unless special precaution was taken, the buttons and fasteners were 1 liable to fall out of the raceways, in which event the cylinder or magazine would require to be refilled. The button-stoppin g device, by which only one button and staple at a time was allowed to descend the raceway into position to be set by the driver, projected in front of the raceway, and so was exposed and liable to be injured and rendered inoperative by an ac cidental blow. To avoid these objections is one of the objects of my present invention, which has also for its object to providea simple and eective device for stopping the button and fastener at the lower `end of the raceway in position to be set by the driver, as also for centering the button on the fastener when the two are in position at the lower end of the raceway. All previous devices, so far as known to me, for stopping the button and fastener at the lower end of the raceway have acted merely as stops, and not to center the button on the staple, the latter function being performed by the slot in the raceway, through which the eye of the button projects and which was so narrow as to prevent any substantial displacement of the eye of the button relatively to the center of the crown of the staple. The stopping device hereinafter described may. be employed on a raceway having an open slot in front as wide as the space between the prongs of the staple,

and which therefore does not act as a guide to the descending button.

My invention as embodied in the best form now known to me is shown in the accompananying drawings,`in which-- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the upper part of a foot-power machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same. Fig. 3 is a s vertical section of the magazine detached.y Fig. et is a cross-section of the same on linea:

x,Fig.\3. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the raceway and stopping mechanism enlarged. Fig. 6 is a detail of the driver.

The frame of the machine, which incloses the operative parts, is represented at A. This frame may be placed on a standard B, the upper part of which is shown, Figs. l and 2, or the machine might be set upon a bench, as is obvious. t C is a small table, which maybe placed between the frame and the standard, or maybe integral with the frame orstandard, and d are cup-shaped depressions in the table, which serve to hold buttons and fasteners or other small articles.

The machine shown is adapted to be operlated by foot-power, and e is a connecting-rod pivoted at its upper end to the driver-lever at f and atlits lower end pivoted to a treadlelever, which is not shown, but which is of common construction. The driver-lever g is of the shape shown, Figs. 2 and 6, and is pivoted at its rear end at h between lugs on the frame A. The forward end of said lever g projects downwardly and carries the driver j, which. consists of a thin plate of metal secured in Vplace by screws or other suitable means. The driver might be integral with the lever g, but for obvious reasons it is preferable to construct it from a separate piece. The lower or operative end of the driver is notched or recessed, as shown, Figs. l and (i, to accommodate the raised crown of the staple, as also the eye of the button thereon. It is only necessary that the driver should strike the staple at either side of the crown directly over the prongs, and consequently the central portion of the driver may be notched or cut away to a greater or less extent, so long as the strength of the driver is IOC suiciently preserved. Below the driver a projection 'L' of the frame is provided, which carries a recessed block or anvil 7s, Figs. 1 and 2. This anvil is of common construction, and the recesses or coneavities therein serve the wellknown purpose of turning and clinching the points of the staple-prongs when the staple is set in the material.

The upper front of the machine is provided with a raceway l, through which the buttons and attached fasteners pass from the cylindricalmagazine above to the peint at the lower end of the raceway at which the staple or fastener is set by the driver. This raceway is of substantially the shape in cross-section of the raceways or grooves of the magazine, and which are shown in crossseetion, Fig. 4, although the precise shape in cross-section is not important so long as a groove is provided for each prong of the fastener andan open space is left in front and behind these grooves to accommodate the button when in position on the fastener. When the driver is down and in contact with the staple, it projects through an opening in the rear of the raceway and toward the lower end thereof, said opening'in the raceway being made for the purpose of allowing the driver to enter the raeeway behind or above the sta-ple which is in position io be driven. As the movement of the driver is in the are of a circle, when the driver rises it moves back out of the path of the next staple which descends the raeeway and allows that staple to fall to the lower end of the raceway. For the purpose of raising the driver, as also the treadle and the connecting-red, a spring arranged in any suitable manner may be einployed. Such a spring is not shown in the drawings; but in the machine from-which the drawings were made a spring was provided which was fast at one end tothe treadle and at the other to a point en the vertical standard D. For the purpose of limiting the upward movement of the driver, a stopscrew m, Fig. 2, is set in the top of the frame, so as to come in contact with the driver-lever, as shown, and stop the driver at the desired point. To limit the downward 1novement of the driver a cross-bar n, Figs. 2 and 5, is secured to the lower end of the raceway at the rear and the driver-lever is notched or provided with a shoulder, shown ato, Fig. 2, which comes in contact with the bar n when the driver is at its lowest point. \Vhen the bar n and shoulder o are in contact, the operative end of the driver is a short distance above the anvil, so that the driver is not permitted to injure the staple or fastener nor to be broken or injured itself by too violent contact with the fastener or anvil. By the means described the movement of the driver may be accurately governed and adjusted. For the purpose of stopping' the column of buttons and staples in the raceway and of allowing only the lowermost button and staple to descend the raeeway into position to be acted* upon by the driver the following devices are provided: 'lwo bell-crank levers p q (see Fig. 5) are pivoted at their elbows between pr0 jeetions from the rear of the raceway. The back of the raeeway is cut away opposite these levers to allow the bent ends thereof to project when in their forward position into the path of the descending button-eyes and staples. These levers proj ect alternately into the path of the descending staples and are actuated in one direction by springimpelled pins r s, set in sockets in the blockl t, which is fast to the raeeway. The levers p q are actuated in the other direction by the contact of their rearwardly-projecting ends with the fixed pins a h', (see Fig. 5,) which areset in the stationary frame. As the raceway to which the levers p q are pivoted has a vertical movement relatively to the pins a b', it will be clear that the bent ends of the levers may thus be swung out of the staple-channel and that their movement may be varied by the position of the pins a Z1. To check the forward movement of the levers, vstop-pins c CZ are set in the projections between which the levers are pivoted, as shown, Fig. 5.

Referring to Fig. 5, the raceway and stops will be seen in normal position-that is, with the raeeway up and with a button at the lower end thereofready to be set. In the operation of setting the raceway descends andthe lcver q, which is new holding the column of buttons and staples, is moved into the posi* tion indicated by the dotted lines, thus freeing the column of buttonsand allowing them to drop the space of one button until they rest against the lever p, which by the same movement has been freed by changel of position with reference tothe pin a', and has been pushed forward by the spring-impellcd pin s in time to prevent the further descent of the column of buttons. After the button and staple at the lower end of the raceway have been set the raceway has then been moved up again and the stop-levers assume the po sitions shown in Fig. 5, allowing the lowermost button and staple of the column, which is indicated by dotted lines, to drop into position at the lower end of the raceway. In this wayonly one button ata time is allowed to come into position to be set while the stopping mechanism is concealed within the machine, and may work more effectively than if the stops come in contact with the heads of the buttons, there being a space for the upper stop to project into between the eye of the lowest button and the next succeeding' one. The means for stopping and centering the button which is at the lower end of the raceway in position to be set consists simply of a spring of the shape shown, Figs. l and 5, secured by` screws to the face of the raceway and proj eeting centrally in front and near the bottom thereof. The end of said spring is turned on itself, as shown at c', to form a loop of suflicient size to receive a portion of This loop is the round head of the button.

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located centrally in the path of the descending button, and as the but-ton strikes the loop it will settlel into the space thereof and will beheld centrally and with its eye substantially central on the staple. The spring f yields as the staple is acted upon by the driver, and as the driver moves downward allows the button to pass the loop e', the spring moving back again into position after the button has passed. At the upper end of the raceway ablock g is secured', said block forming a support for the cylindrical magazine H. The block g has a vertical aperture therethrough, into which the stem j of the baseplat-e k of the magazine is received. The base-plate 7c is of a diameter equal to the diameter of the magazine and is cut away at one point only to allow the passage of sta ples and buttons from the magazine to the raceway-that is; that part of the base-plate Ze which is directly in line with the raceway is cut away to correspond with the raceway, so that buttons and staples may pass from the raceway of the magazine above the baseplate 7c down into the raceway Z. At all other points the base-plate it" forms a close bottom for the raceways of the magazine H. The central portion of the base-plate k is thicker than the edges thereof and projects upwardly inside the cylindrical magazine, as shown, Fig. 3. The diameter of the magazine is somewhat less at the lower end thereof-that is, a ledge or shoulder (shown at Z', Fig. 3) is formed inside thereof, and a washer or disk m is firmly secured to the base-plate Ze and bears on either side on the shoulder or ledge Z on the inside of the magazine. This serves to hold the magazineand the base-plate firmly together. At one point on the under side of the base-plate a projection n is provided, which is received in a corresponding hole or socket in the block g. This serves to hold the basepiece 7o rigid with reference to the block g', and also insures the opening on one side of the base-plate being in line with the raceway Z. Vhile the washer-disk Z holds the base-plate and the magazine together, it at the same time permits the magazine to be turned on the base-plate, so that when'the buttons and fasteners in one raceway have been exhausted the operator may turn the magazine until the next raceway is in line with the opening in the base-plate and with the lower raceway Z.

For the convenience of the operator, a spring-impelled pin 2o (see Figs. 3 and 4) is set lin a horizontal socket in the base-plate 7a. This pin projects into notches or recesses cut inside the magazine, as shown, and so arranged with reference to the pin p as to always stop the magazine,` when it is turned on the bed-piece k, in such position that one of its raceways will register with the raceway Z of the machine. As the projecting end of the pin p is somewhat rounded and the recesses intowhich it projects have flaring sides, a comparatively slight effort exerted to turn the magazine will press back the pin p', which, when the magazine has been turned a short distance, will snap into the next recess, and the next raceway of the magazine will be inline with t-he raceway Z.

When it is desired to ll the magazine, it is lifted from the machine, the base-plate k. remaining secured to it and -preventing the escape of buttons and fasteners which may be placed in its raceways, all except one of which are closed by the base-plate, and this one may be closed, together with all the others, by shifting the magazine so that the pin p will lie between two of the notches in the magazine. The magazine may consist simply of a tube of metal having parallel grooves milled in its outer surface, and having plat essuch as are shown at q', Fig. 4-secured between the grooves and projecting partially over them on either side to form a groove or channel-way for the staple-prongs, or it may be made in any other suitable manner.

As the driver moves downward to set the staple, the magazine H and racewayZ drop by gravity until the lower end of the raeeway rests on the material on which the buttons are to be set, thus delivering the staple substantially upon the material, when the further downward movement of the driver sets it.' As soon as the foot of the operator is raised from the treadle a spring, heretofore referred to but not shown in the drawings, acts to raise the treadle and connecting-rod e` and the driver. As the driver-lever moves upward it comes in contact with the block t, as shown, Fig. 2, and lifts the raceway and magazine to their raised position.

l. ln a button-setting machine having a stationary anvil, the combination therewith of a vertically-movable raceway, a driver mounted on a pivoted lever, said lever constituting a driver-bar and operating to move said driver in the arc of a circle, and stops above and below said lever or driver-bar, whereby t-he range of movement of the driver is governed, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, in a button-settin g machine, of the raceway for buttons and attached fasteners, the pivoted levers p q, the spring-pins r s, and the pins a b. v

3. The combination, with the raceway for buttons and attached fasteners,of a stopping and centering spring f, mounted at the lower end thereof, said spring having a loop e at the free end thereof projecting upwardly and forwardly from the face of the raceway 'and set, in the path of the descending button, whereby the button and fastener will be stopped in position to be set and the button will be centered on the staple.

4. The combination, in a button-setting machine having an anvil, driver, and raceway, of a block g', secured to the upper end of said raceway, a base-plate k', mounted on said block and having an opening at one point to ICO IIO

permit the passage of buttons and attached the machine, substantially as shown and destap1es,a detachable magazine, as H', mounted scribed. 011 said base-plate and projecting above said f, 7 raceway, and a retaining-disk m', whereby the EUGENE H' l AX LOR 5 magazine and base-plate are secured together V'Vitnesses:

and the buttons and staples are kept in the R. WALLACE,` magazine when the latter is removed from C. F. NOLTE. 

